THE King was presented with a knitted cake to celebrate his charity's special anniversary of a textile programme founded at Dumfries House.
More than 7,000 people have benefitted from The King's Foundation's Future Textiles course, which was founded at the stately home near Cumnock back in 2014.
Since then, it has been run by the charity at Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, and Trinity Buoy Wharf in London, as well as Dumfries House.
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The charity’s Future Textiles programme was initiated a decade ago to help address a skills gap within the UK fashion and textiles industry through education and training.
Through Future Textiles, The King’s Foundation aims to offer a wide range of education and training programmes for people of all ages ranging from one-day sewing workshops, to international conferences which bring industry leaders together with emerging talent.
Last month, members of the charity’s Knitwise programme presented The King with a handknitted cake to celebrate a decade of Future Textiles at the charity’s annual graduation at Dumfries House.
Jacqueline Farrell, education director for The King’s Foundation, said: “Future Textiles was initiated in 2014 after His Majesty The King, Royal Founding President of The King’s Foundation, convened an industry roundtable at Dumfries House to discuss the role education and training could play in helping to protect the hand-skills that underpin the UK fashion industry.
“Initially, Future Textiles benefitted secondary school age pupils by introducing them to the beauty of making and ensuring they understood the technical sewing and craft processes that are so vital to responsible fashion design and manufacturing."
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Jacqueline added: "Due to the incredible support of the industry and our partners, the programme grew rapidly and now offers a huge range of courses ranging from day workshops and weekly community groups, to full-time courses which provide students with the skills needed to start their own businesses and gain employment in the industry.
“We are proud to count among our graduates talented artisans now making their mark in the fashion industry as key practitioners for some of the world’s best-known brands, and founders of businesses that promote sustainability through long-lasting, high-quality garments and products.”
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